Another bag of vegetables from our "personal farmer" Gary has arrived. We have been "subscribing" freshly harvested, certified organic vegetables every week for 15 weeks in Spring and Fall since 2009. The vegetables comes from his farm, the Red Root Herb & Vegetable Farm, in a nearby town. Growing our own food for the past 3 years with Temesgen (and previously in Japan myself), we strongly agree it takes hardest effort AND lots of luck to produce good food. Soil, temperature, rain, seeds, insects, pollination... there are lots of factors. I think the most important part will be the timing of temp up/down and rain. No matter how hard you work, some times nothing just won't grow! Look at our squash family this year - they were growing so well, and then all got hit by squash bugs!
This experience brought us to an idea of joining Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA is a widely supported program for locally produced food in various states. Local farmers markets are also getting more popular, even in small towns. The difference is that CSA consumers do not get to choose what vegetables they get that week or decide how much they pay for it. Instead, we pay a flat fee (currenly $25) for one bag of vegetable. This system gives farmers much-needed assurance to have a steady income to sustain their lives and farm. We, as subscribers, enjoy a variety of vegetables in season every week, straight from the local farm - much less carbon footprints and often cheaper than going to farmers market (we don't make it anyways since they close at 6pm...). His green onions and dinosaur kale are absolutely terrific! I realize that life is all about simple joy in daily life - his vegetables definitely contribute to that. They feed my mind, soul and body.
